2013 Local Search Ranking Factors (Updated)
Overall Local Ranking Factors
Desktop Vs. Mobile
Local Ranking Factors Mashup
Foundational Local SEO Ranking Factors
| 1 | Proper Category Associations | |
| 2 | Physical Address in City of Search | |
| 3 | Consistency of Structured Citations | |
| 4 | Quality/Authority of Structured Citations | |
| 5 | HTML NAP Matching Place Page NAP | |
| 6 | Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators) | |
| 7 | Domain Authority of Website | |
| 8 | Individually Owner-verified Local Plus Page | |
| 9 | City, State in Places Landing Page Title | |
| 10 | Proximity of Address to Centroid | |
| 11 | Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 12 | Quantity of Native Google Places Reviews (w/text) | |
| 13 | Product / Service Keyword in Business Title | |
| 14 | Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains | |
| 15 | Proximity of Physical Location to the Point of Search\n(Searcher-Business Distance) | |
| 16 | Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains | |
| 17 | Local Area Code on Local Plus Page | |
| 18 | City, State in Most/All Website Title Tags | |
| 19 | Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews | |
| 20 | Page Authority of Places Landing Page URL | |
| 21 | Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 22 | NAP in hCard / Schema.org | |
| 23 | Product/Service Keywords in Reviews | |
| 24 | Product / Service Keyword in Website URL | |
| 25 | Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts) | |
| 26 | Location Keyword in Business Title | |
| 27 | Primary category matches a broader category of the search category\n(e.g. primary category=restaurant & search=pizza) | |
| 28 | City, State in Places Landing Page H1/H2 Tags | |
| 29 | Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains | |
| 30 | Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 31 | Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 32 | Diversity of third-party sites on which reviews are present | |
| 33 | Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc) | |
| 34 | Presence of properly implemented rel=author on website | |
| 35 | Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native + Third-Party) | |
| 36 | Geographic Keyword in Website URL | |
| 37 | Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 38 | Location Keywords in Reviews | |
| 39 | Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts) | |
| 40 | Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL | |
| 41 | Velocity of Native Google Places Reviews | |
| 42 | GeoTagged Media Associated with Business (e.g. Panoramio, Flickr, YouTube) | |
| 43 | Association of Photos with Local Plus Page | |
| 44 | Loadtime of Places Landing Page URL | |
| 45 | Numerical Percentage of Local Plus Page Completeness | |
| 46 | Location Keyword in Local Plus Page Description | |
| 47 | Product / Service Keyword in Local Plus Page Description | |
| 48 | Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 49 | Authority of +1’s on Website | |
| 50 | Matching, Public WHOIS Information | |
| 51 | Authority of third-party sites on which reviews are present | |
| 52 | Quantity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains | |
| 53 | High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5) | |
| 54 | Click-Through Rate from Search Results | |
| 55 | Presence of properly implemented rel=publisher on website | |
| 56 | Velocity of Shares on Google+ | |
| 57 | Authority of Shares on Google+ | |
| 58 | Velocity of New Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 59 | Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL | |
| 60 | Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL | |
| 61 | Bulk Owner-verified Local Plus Page | |
| 62 | Marginal Category Associations | |
| 63 | City, State in Most/All H1/H2 Tags | |
| 64 | Quantity of Native Google Places Ratings (no text) | |
| 65 | Authority of Shares/Likes on Facebook | |
| 66 | Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL | |
| 67 | High Numerical Ratings of Place by Google Users (e.g. 4-5) | |
| 68 | Number of Shares on Google+ | |
| 69 | Age of Local Plus Page | |
| 70 | Number of circles in which author is contained | |
| 71 | Popularity (# of Views) of MyMaps References to Business | |
| 72 | Number of +1’s on Website | |
| 73 | Positive Sentiment in Reviews | |
| 74 | Volume of Testimonials in hReview / Schema.org | |
| 75 | Velocity of Third-Party Reviews | |
| 76 | Authority of Followers/Mentions on Twitter | |
| 77 | Quantity of MyPlaces References to Business | |
| 78 | Volume of Check-Ins on Popular Services (e.g. Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter) | |
| 79 | Driving Directions to Business Clicks | |
| 80 | Number of circles in which Plus page is contained | |
| 81 | Number of Shares/Likes on Facebook | |
| 82 | Quantity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL | |
| 83 | Volume of HTML Testimonials |
Non-High Priority Items
The following factors received no votes from any of the survey respondents. These factors may still contribute to local search engine rankings, but are not considered high-priority items.
Association of Videos with Local Plus Page
Author proximity to authority Google+ accounts
Clicks to Call Business
Diversity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
High Numerical Rating of hReview/Schema Testimonials
High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc)
Inclusion of Offer on Local Plus Page
KML File on Domain Name
Location Keywords in Local Plus Page Custom Attributes
Matching Google Account Domain to Places Landing Page Domain
Number of Followers/Mentions on Twitter
Participation in Adwords Express or Google Offers
Plus page proximity to authority Google+ accounts
Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews
Velocity of +1’s on Website
Velocity of authorship circles
Velocity of Followers/Mentions on Twitter
Velocity of New Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL
Velocity of Plus page circles
Velocity of Shares/Likes on Facebook
Volume of Offer Redemption
Competitive Game Changers
| 1 | Quality/Authority of Structured Citations | |
| 2 | Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 3 | Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc) | |
| 4 | Consistency of Structured Citations | |
| 5 | Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains | |
| 6 | Quantity of Native Google Places Reviews (w/text) | |
| 7 | Domain Authority of Website | |
| 8 | Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts) | |
| 9 | Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains | |
| 10 | Page Authority of Places Landing Page URL | |
| 11 | Association of Photos with Local Plus Page | |
| 12 | Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews | |
| 13 | Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators) | |
| 14 | Product/Service Keywords in Reviews | |
| 15 | Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 16 | Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL | |
| 17 | Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native + Third-Party) | |
| 18 | Diversity of third-party sites on which reviews are present | |
| 19 | Click-Through Rate from Search Results | |
| 20 | Authority of third-party sites on which reviews are present | |
| 21 | Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts) | |
| 22 | Presence of properly implemented rel=author on website | |
| 23 | Location Keywords in Reviews | |
| 24 | NAP in hCard / Schema.org | |
| 25 | Velocity of Native Google Places Reviews | |
| 26 | Marginal Category Associations | |
| 27 | Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains | |
| 28 | GeoTagged Media Associated with Business (e.g. Panoramio, Flickr, YouTube) | |
| 29 | Local Area Code on Local Plus Page | |
| 30 | Presence of properly implemented rel=publisher on website | |
| 31 | Physical Address in City of Search | |
| 32 | Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 33 | Positive Sentiment in Reviews | |
| 34 | Location Keyword in Local Plus Page Description | |
| 35 | Proper Category Associations | |
| 36 | City, State in Places Landing Page H1/H2 Tags | |
| 37 | Age of Local Plus Page | |
| 38 | Quantity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains | |
| 39 | Authority of +1’s on Website | |
| 40 | Product / Service Keyword in Local Plus Page Description | |
| 41 | Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 42 | Primary category matches a broader category of the search category\n(e.g. primary category=restaurant & search=pizza) | |
| 43 | High Numerical Ratings of Place by Google Users (e.g. 4-5) | |
| 44 | Individually Owner-verified Local Plus Page | |
| 45 | Velocity of New Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 46 | Number of Shares on Google+ | |
| 47 | High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc) | |
| 48 | Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL | |
| 49 | Velocity of Third-Party Reviews | |
| 50 | Product / Service Keyword in Business Title | |
| 51 | Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 52 | HTML NAP Matching Place Page NAP | |
| 53 | Number of circles in which author is contained | |
| 54 | Authority of Shares on Google+ | |
| 55 | Matching, Public WHOIS Information | |
| 56 | Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL | |
| 57 | Product / Service Keyword in Website URL | |
| 58 | Quantity of MyPlaces References to Business | |
| 59 | Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL | |
| 60 | Loadtime of Places Landing Page URL | |
| 61 | Proximity of Physical Location to the Point of Search\n(Searcher-Business Distance) | |
| 62 | Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews | |
| 63 | Numerical Percentage of Local Plus Page Completeness | |
| 64 | Quantity of Native Google Places Ratings (no text) | |
| 65 | Number of +1’s on Website | |
| 66 | Popularity (# of Views) of MyMaps References to Business | |
| 67 | High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5) | |
| 68 | Volume of Testimonials in hReview / Schema.org | |
| 69 | Authority of Followers/Mentions on Twitter | |
| 70 | Velocity of New Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL | |
| 71 | Velocity of Shares on Google+ | |
| 72 | Clicks to Call Business | |
| 73 | Matching Google Account Domain to Places Landing Page Domain | |
| 74 | Association of Videos with Local Plus Page | |
| 75 | Volume of Check-Ins on Popular Services (e.g. Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter) | |
| 76 | Diversity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL | |
| 77 | Authority of Shares/Likes on Facebook | |
| 78 | City, State in Most/All Website Title Tags | |
| 79 | Volume of HTML Testimonials | |
| 80 | City, State in Places Landing Page Title | |
| 81 | Number of circles in which Plus page is contained | |
| 82 | Geographic Keyword in Website URL | |
| 83 | Driving Directions to Business Clicks | |
| 84 | Proximity of Address to Centroid | |
| 85 | Location Keyword in Business Title | |
| 86 | Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain | |
| 87 | City, State in Most/All H1/H2 Tags | |
| 88 | Location Keywords in Local Plus Page Custom Attributes | |
| 89 | Velocity of Shares/Likes on Facebook | |
| 90 | Bulk Owner-verified Local Plus Page | |
| 91 | Velocity of authorship circles | |
| 92 | Number of Shares/Likes on Facebook | |
| 93 | Quantity of Inbound Links to Places Landing Page URL | |
| 94 | Velocity of +1’s on Website | |
| 95 | Author proximity to authority Google+ accounts | |
| 96 | KML File on Domain Name | |
| 97 | Inclusion of Offer on Local Plus Page |
Again, Non-Priority Items
The following factors received no votes from any of the survey respondents. These factors may still contribute to local search engine rankings, but are not considered high-priority items.
High Numerical Rating of hReview/Schema Testimonials
Number of Followers/Mentions on Twitter
Participation in Adwords Express or Google Offers
Plus page proximity to authority Google+ accounts
Velocity of Followers/Mentions on Twitter
Velocity of Plus page circles
Volume of Offer Redemption
NEGATIVE RANKING FACTORS! ahhhh…
| 1 | Listing detected at false business location | |
| 2 | Keyword stuffing in business name | |
| 3 | Mis-match NAP / Tracking Phone Numbers Across Data Ecosystem | |
| 4 | Incorrect business category | |
| 5 | Presence of Multiple Place Pages with Same/Similar Business Title and Address | |
| 6 | Mis-match NAP / Tracking Phone Number on Places Landing Page | |
| 7 | Mis-match Address on Places Landing Page | |
| 8 | Reports of Violations on your place page | |
| 9 | Presence of malware on site | |
| 10 | Absence of Crawlable NAP on Website | |
| 11 | Presence of Multiple Place Pages with Same Phone Number | |
| 12 | Including Location Keyword in Categories | |
| 13 | Absence of Crawlable NAP on Places Landing Page | |
| 14 | Incorrectly placing your map marker | |
| 15 | Presence of Multiple Categories in Same Input Field | |
| 16 | Association of Google Places account with other suppressed listings | |
| 17 | Address includes suite number similar to UPS Mail Store addresses | |
| 18 | Keyword/city stuffed Place page descriptions | |
| 19 | Non-Compliant Categories (those that do not fit | |
| 20 | Listing 800 Number as Only Phone Number on Place Page | |
| 21 | Presence of Multiple Crawlable NAP on Places Landing Page | |
| 22 | Keyword-Stuffing in Title Tag of Places Landing Page | |
| 23 | Choosing to Hide Place Page Address | |
| 24 | Low Numerical Ratings of Place by Google Users (e.g. 1-2) | |
| 25 | Negative Sentiment in Place Reviews | |
| 26 | Low Numerical Ratings of Place by Third-Party Users (e.g. 1-2) | |
| 27 | Choosing Service Area for Business on Place Page (as opposed to in-location visits) | |
| 28 | Mis-Matched or Private WHOIS Information | |
| 29 | 50+ MyMaps referring to your location | |
| 30 | Multi-lingual listing for the same place |
Tagged Under: local search engine marketing, local search ranking factors 2013, local sem, local seo